About 14 Zimbabwean children heading to South Africa have been detained in Botswana for not having proper travel documents.
The children from Tsholochow, who missed school for three weeks during their ordeal, were reunited with their families last Friday, The Chronicle reported. The parents stressed the importance of obtaining the necessary documents for international travel, noting that they learned a valuable lesson from this experience.
said Melekani Moyo, who is originally from Sasidza village but now resides in South Africa “I was thrilled when my wife sent pictures of my baby after handing over the babies to them. I even started to doubt whether they were alive because they didn’t want us to see them when we went there. I wouldn’t take another chance again; I will try to raise money to get a passport for my child.
Mr. Kute Ncube had two children in Botswana, a 14-year-old in Grade 1 at Mavela Secondary School and a 10-year-old in Grade 4 at Mahole Primary School.
“I shed tears of joy when I saw them because it was difficult. They are all in good health, and we thank the officials in Botswana for taking good care of them. We have no complaints about their well-being while they are in their hands,” Mr Ncube said.
However, Matabeleland South Provincial Social Welfare Department official Cresswell Nyakudia said that by law the children’s parents should have been arrested for facilitating their trafficking.
“It is illegal to travel out of the country without proper documentation and to allow children to travel without any adult accompanying them. “Parents and omalaytsha who do this should be arrested for breaching the Children’s Act. Before they left Botswana, the Social Welfare Director in that country should have contacted our manager to alert us of this move.
